Recruiting

[StillWarriors]

Except for the fact that its Duke...99.99% of NCAA teams would be a stepping stone for Duke.

Who knows, maybe the Duke blood in him will make going to other ACC programs unattractive if he is not the guy at Duke to take over. Kind of funny that everyone assumes it's a foregone conclusion he would be handed the reigns at Duke when Coach K leaves. If Duke has that kind of faith in him, we just hired a helluva coach. We should be happy about that. Looking beyond a 5-7 year window with all of the variables that come into play is putting the cart before the horse. Let's win like crazy for the next 5 years and see how it shakes out.  

[brandx]

I have been a well (and perhaps overly...) documented Howland proponent.

My concern with Wojo is this...he has been at Duke his entire career.  One would argue a school/basketball program that sells itself - even knowing that for McD's All-Americans it's a dog fight between the blue bloods.

Can Wojo, who has little (perhaps no) experience doing so, walk into a gym to look at Joe Fulce and find a Jimmy Butler?  Or see the potential in a Devante Gardner?  Does he have the ability to look past the incredibly talented high school players that are recruited by Duke to identify a two star rated player who is really a four star in disguise?

I hope he's a master at this and my concerns are completely unfounded but it is a legit set of questions in my opinion, considering where he is coming from.

So you wonder if a guy with 15 years experience coaching PLUS experience playing at the highest level in college can spot talent?

[humanlung]

So you wonder if a guy with 15 years experience coaching PLUS experience playing at the highest level in college can spot talent?

Yup.  Considering that he's had the pick of the litter for 15 years, I wonder if he can find the diamonds in the rough.  He's never had to do that before.

If my memory serves me correctly, there have been a number of Duke assistants who have gotten head coaching gigs and the record is fairly mixed.

[NCMUFan]

I won't rate the guy on this, but I would like to see him keep our current commits

[CAGASS24]

Yes, he has the aau connections. He knows all the right people. I am excited about that.

Why I'm concerned about 5-6 years down the road... I'd like some stability in our program. I'm tied of getting assistants from other programs, shining them up, and watching them move on to greener pastures.

Yes, if he goes back to duke that means that Marquette is very successful and that's awesome. Maybe this is the coach we get before we get the coach that will view this as a destination. Or maybe all this worry is for nothing and Wojo sticks around forever and falls in love with MU.

5-6 years in this day and age is a decent tenure - better be good at hiring coaches - more than 6 years is the VAST VAST VAST minority at BCS level of play

[Warrior Code]

I won't rate the guy on this, but I would like to see him keep our current commits

Same here. This is important because the rest of the class has been pretty much picked clean at this point.

[cbranger]

Yeah what's going on with people hating on the Coach K coaching tree?

[slingkong]

I have been a well (and perhaps overly...) documented Howland proponent.

My concern with Wojo is this...he has been at Duke his entire career.  One would argue a school/basketball program that sells itself - even knowing that for McD's All-Americans it's a dog fight between the blue bloods.

Can Wojo, who has little (perhaps no) experience doing so, walk into a gym to look at Joe Fulce and find a Jimmy Butler?  Or see the potential in a Devante Gardner?  Does he have the ability to look past the incredibly talented high school players that are recruited by Duke to identify a two star rated player who is really a four star in disguise?

I hope he's a master at this and my concerns are completely unfounded but it is a legit set of questions in my opinion, considering where he is coming from.

Good questions but these could be asked of absolutely any new coach at any school, even the blue bloods.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Mike Krzyzewski Coaching Tree

•Gene Banks Duke '81 Assistant Coach Washington Wizards
•Vince Taylor Duke '82 Assistant Coach Texas Tech
•Chip Engelland Duke '83 Assistant Coach San Antonio Spurs
•Todd Anderson Duke '85 Assistant Coach Pro Basketball - Qatar
•Johnny Dawkins Duke '86 Head Coach Stanford
•Tommy Amaker Duke '87 Head Coach Harvard
•Billy King Duke '88 General Manager New Jersey Nets
•Danny Ferry Duke '89 General Manager Atlanta Hawks
•Quinn Snyder Duke '89 Assistant Coach Atlanta Hawks
•Robert Brickey Duke '90 Assistant Coach Fayetteville State
•Bobby Hurley Duke '93 Head Coach Buffalo
•Antonio Lang Duke '94 Head Coach Pro Basketball - Japan
•Chris Collins Duke '96 Head Coach Northwestern
• Jeff Capel Duke '97 Associate Coach Duke
•Steve Wojciechowski Duke '98 Head Coach Marquette
•Chris Carrawell Duke '00 Assistant Coach Springfield (NBDL)
•Nate James Duke '01 Assistant Coach Duke
•Patrick Johnson Duke '06 Assistant Coach Concordia
•(Calif.) Greg Paulus Duke '09 Assistant Coach Ohio State
•Jon Scheyer Duke '10 Special Assistant Duke Former Assistant Coaches
•Bob Bender Duke '80 Assistant Coach Milwaukee Bucks
•Mike Brey George Wash. '82 Head Coach Notre Dame
•^ Brian DeStefano Duke, '04 Assistant Coach Harvard
•Pete Gaudet Boston U., '66 Video Coordinator Ohio State (women)
•Mike Jarvis Boston Univ., '92 Assistant Coach Florida Atlantic
• * Mike Schrage Indiana, '98 Assistant Coach Stanford
•* Schrage was the director of basketball operations at Duke from 2002-08 and a member of the staff from 1999-2008.
•^ DeStefano served as a graduate assistant/head team manager in 2006-07. He was also a student manager from 2003-06.

[The Man in Gold]

You're ok with that? That has stepping stone written all over it.

If two of our last 3 coaches land up using MU as stepping stones to Indiana and Duke, two of the all-time best CBB programs, I'm definitely okay with that.  Say what you want about how TC left, but if MU remains so well respected that our coaches continue to land truly Elite level jobs, I can accept that.  If you continue to have that much success, a lifelong coach will come along.

Brent, on the other hand, can take a long lonely hike down an abandoned country road.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

If two of our last 3 coaches land up using MU as stepping stones to Indiana and Duke, two of the all-time best CBB programs, I'm definitely okay with that.  Say what you want about how TC left, but if MU remains so well respected that our coaches continue to land truly Elite level jobs, I can accept that.  If you continue to have that much success, a lifelong coach will come along.

Brent, on the other hand, can take a long lonely hike down an abandoned country road.

This and even the national pundits said that the VT job was a major step backwards, so hardly stepping stone.

[willie warrior]

I have been a well (and perhaps overly...) documented Howland proponent.

My concern with Wojo is this...he has been at Duke his entire career.  One would argue a school/basketball program that sells itself - even knowing that for McD's All-Americans it's a dog fight between the blue bloods.

Can Wojo, who has little (perhaps no) experience doing so, walk into a gym to look at Joe Fulce and find a Jimmy Butler?  Or see the potential in a Devante Gardner?  Does he have the ability to look past the incredibly talented high school players that are recruited by Duke to identify a two star rated player who is really a four star in disguise?

I hope he's a master at this and my concerns are completely unfounded but it is a legit set of questions in my opinion, considering where he is coming from.

that is a well thought out concern, but how many guys out there have that ability?

[Niv Berkowitz]

Yes, he has the aau connections. He knows all the right people. I am excited about that.

Why I'm concerned about 5-6 years down the road... I'd like some stability in our program. I'm tied of getting assistants from other programs, shining them up, and watching them move on to greener pastures.

Yes, if he goes back to duke that means that Marquette is very successful and that's awesome. Maybe this is the coach we get before we get the coach that will view this as a destination. Or maybe all this worry is for nothing and Wojo sticks around forever and falls in love with MU.

I don't like the turnover at coach either but....what's the average time for a coach to remain at one job in D1 college? I'll be it's less than 5 years.

What I'm saying is...yeah, we all want a Coach K, but after 5-6 years, you are playing w/house money unless you are a blue blood.

Stop worrying about what someone might do if we are really, really successful. If MU takes care of them, you can't do anything else. There are a million reasons why someone would leave MU to go somewhere else. Pay them accordingly, watch them succeed, show Wojo what he can get here that he can't get anywhere else, and don't worry about it.

You can't hire/not hire someone on the fear of them leaving. That's self-defeating. Would you rather have this line of thinking "Man, this guy sucks...but nobody else wants him!!"

Winners are wanted. Always will be. Nothing we can do to stop that.

[Ellenson Guerrero]

Does anyone have any insight into Wojo's involvement with Duke's recruitment of Stone?  24/7 has Nate James down as the recruiter, but I'm not sure how accurate that always is.

http://247sports.com/Player/Diamond-Stone-20022

[mr.MUskie]

I came to accept that the MU coach position is a stepping stone job, after Brent left.

I can't worry about 5 years down the road what the coach will do, given any success.  I am just thinking what future recruits will think about the coach that is recruiting them.

Wojo has seen the benefits first hand of staying at one place for a long time.

[WarriorPride68]

Does anyone have any insight into Wojo's involvement with Duke's recruitment of Stone?  24/7 has Nate James down as the recruiter, but I'm not sure how accurate that always is.

http://247sports.com/Player/Diamond-Stone-20022

100% Nate James in the lead recruiter for Diamond. There is a picture of him in the front row of the Diamond/Henry battle @ Concordia U